Abilene City Manager Larry Gilley appeared before the Commissioners with the county’s Sheriff’s Office to discuss their requested budgets for 2013-2014.

Gilley asked the court to reconsider its recent approval of an inmate housing fee increase from $30 per day to $38.50 for APD. The increase is scheduled to go into effect Oct 1., the start of the 2013-2014 fiscal year.

“That was something that really came as a surprise to us,” Gilley told the court. “We did not budget any additional funds.”

Gilley said the increase would add an estimated $52,000 to the city’s FY14 budget.

“I’m sorry it caught you by surprise,” county Judge Downing Bolls said to Gilley. “I think we just kind of assumed there was an ongoing conversation.”

Sheriff Ricky Bishop sought a $234,155 increase in his budget to hire six new deputies; one patrol, one extradition and four Warrants Division officers.

“We reinstated the Warrant Division in April this year,” Bishop told the court.

The division collected about $26,000 in fees from April through June for 523 cleared warrants. Bishop said he borrowed two officers from the Taylor County Jail to work in the division. With the requested four officers, the county could gain an estimated $105,000 in revenue from 2,100 cleared warrants, he said.

Bishop then asked for seven Chevrolet Tahoes and three Chevrolet Impalas, which would be used to replace older trucks and help officers pick up inmates from jails in different counties.

The sheriff also made requests on behalf of Taylor County Courthouse security and the jail. He asked for about $170,000 to hire five additional courthouse guards — the courthouse currently has five officers — to help out during a $6-million courthouse renovation project, which could begin early next year.

Courts on the fourth and fifth floors of the courthouse will be housed temporarily in the Taylor County Plaza, at 400 Oak St. The guards will be needed to secure the Plaza building while the courts are there.

As for the jail, Bishop requested $248,926 to hire six correctional officers and one full-time nurse.